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''City of Death'' is the second serial of the seventeenth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor. It was produced by the BBC and first broadcast in four weekly parts between 29 September 1979 and 20 October 1979 on BBC1. The serial was written by "David Agnew" – a pseudonym for David Fisher, Douglas Adams, and Graham Williams – and directed by Michael Hayes. ''City of Death'' features the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and his companion Romana (Lalla Ward). Set mainly in Paris in 1979, the plot concerns a scheme by an alien, Scaroth, to steal the ''Mona Lisa'' to finance experiments in time travel in the hope of averting the accident that marooned him on Earth four hundred million years previously, which began the existence of life on the planet as well. The serial's original storyline was devised by Fisher but was heavily re-written by script editor Adams, aided by producer Williams. It was the first ''Doctor Who'' serial to film on location outside of the United Kingdom; the production team worked in Paris during April and May 1979. The studio work was completed in June. Broadcast during a strike that took ITV (the BBC's rival) off the air, ''City of Death'' scored high ratings. The fourth episode was watched by over sixteen million viewers, the highest UK television audience ever attained by an episode of ''Doctor Who''. Although, in retrospect, it has been regarded as one of the best serials from ''Doctor Who'' classic run, the initial reception was not as positive, with criticism of the humorous tone.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=BBC - Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide - City of Death - Details )〕 ==Plot== While leisurely enjoying the city of Paris with Romana, the Doctor feels the effects of time distortion. At the Louvre while admiring the ''Mona Lisa'', he encounters the Countess Scarlioni wearing an alien bracelet used to scan security systems. The Doctor and Romana meet Inspector Duggan, who has been tailing Count Scarlioni for some time; Scarlioni has placed a large number of lost art treasures on the market, and Duggan fears the Scarlionis are looking to steal the ''Mona Lisa''. Though the three are briefly captured by the Countess, the Doctor helps them to escape and explore the Count's mansion, where they discover equipment by Dr. Kerensky to experiment with time, the source of the Doctor's time distortions. They also discover, behind a wall, six exact copies of the ''Mona Lisa'', each painted by Leonardo da Vinci himself. Leaving Romana and Duggan to continue to investigate in the present, the Doctor uses his TARDIS to visit Leonardo's workshop. There he is captured by Captain Tancredi, whose appearance is the same as Count Scarlioni. Tancredi reveals he is Scaroth, the last of the Jagaroth race, stranded on Earth and fragmented through time due to an explosion of their spacecraft on Earth 400 million years ago. Seeking to restore himself and his race, Scaroth has aided human technological advancement, while remaining in contact with the other fragments of himself. Tancredi, in this era, has convinced Leonardo to paint 6 copies of the ''Mona Lisa'', so that when Scarlioni steals the known painting in 1979, he can then sell it seven times, substantially funding the completion of Dr. Kerensky's work. When Tancredi leaves the Doctor under watch by a human guard, the Doctor knocks out the guard, uses a felt-tip marker to write "This is a fake" on the six blank canvases and leaves instructions for Leonardo to paint over the text, as to allow them to track the copies in the future by X-raying them. The Doctor escapes when Tancredi suffers a temporary collapse caused by his other selves. The Doctor returns to the present and learns that Scaroth has succeeded in stealing the ''Mona Lisa''. Furthermore, Scaroth has killed Dr. Kerensky and threatens to do the same to the entire city of Paris if Romana does not complete Kerensky's work. The Doctor convinces the Countess that her husband is not human, and she sees his true face, but the Count kills her before she can react. With the time equipment fixed, Scaroth uses it to travel back 400 million years in hopes to stop the explosion of his ship. Though Romana reveals that the equipment will bring him back after two minutes, the Doctor asserts that it is enough time for Scaroth to stop the explosion of the Jagaroth ship, itself the source of the spark of energy that created the beginnings of life on Earth; should Scaroth prevent the explosion, every native living being on the planet will never have existed. The Doctor, Romana, and Duggan race to the TARDIS and travel back to intercept Scaroth. Duggan punches Scaroth unconscious before he can stop the ship. Scaroth's body returns to the present as the ship attempts to take off and explodes, assuring the development of life on Earth. In the present, Scaroth is killed by his henchman Hermann, who does not recognise him without his human mask, and a failure in the time equipment sets the mansion ablaze. By the time the Doctor, Romana, and Duggan arrive, the original and five of the six copies of the ''Mona Lisa'' have been destroyed, but one of the copies remains untouched. The Doctor proposes that since a copy of a painting by the original artist is not a fake, the painting should be considered the real work of art, reminding Duggan that art is worthless if its monetary value is all that matters. The Doctor and Romana say goodbye to Duggan at the Eiffel Tower. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「City of Death」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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